The Editor:
My family attended the Family Science Night that Blaine Primary School hosted on February 27. What I saw made me want to do something … anything, to help support the future of the Blaine school district.
What I saw that night were so many teachers (current and past), giving their time to help kids learn. I saw parent volunteers and Blaine High School students getting kids excited about the magic of science and how it appears in everyday things. Most importantly, I saw so many families who made the effort to get out and participate in this evening of learning. After a full day of school and activities, these kids were excited to learn, see their friends and share their school with their families.
I saw community. I saw camaraderie. I saw effort. Effort to support. Effort to courage. Effort to teach. I saw so much good!
I want my kids to thrive in the Blaine school district. I want my kids to form life-long friendships with their classmates and come back to visit their teachers. I believe in the public school system and that as a community we can support our students and teachers to develop the future leaders and sustainability of Blaine. But it is heartbreaking and discouraging to read about all of the budget and resource cuts that are happening and what effect this has had and will have on the kids and remaining teachers and staff.
It’s time to be proactive about looking for funding (and providing community support) for the Blaine school district. I refuse to believe that the only solution is to continue to make cuts to the detriment of our children, their learning environments and the welfare of our teachers.
If you feel like me, then I urge you to use your voice, write to the state legislature and email the school board to let them know how their decisions affect your children and the community.
It takes a village, and it’s time to come together – because this community, these teachers, and our children are worth fighting for.
Traci Bowe
Blaine
The Editor:
I would like to invite my friends and neighbors who receive most of their information about what’s happening in the world from programs on Fox News or other right wing sources to please realize that these are now functioning as state-run media and your information is being censored and whitewashed.
Please be brave enough to avail yourself of other legitimate news sources. If you can’t bring yourself to listen to “mainstream media,” you can trust international news sources like NHK offering world news in English from the Japanese perspective, or the BBC news from England, or news from Germany or even Canada. Canada has reason to be angry at our sudden betrayal of them, but their coverage of our government’s attack on them is quite accurate.
If you think everything is fine, I implore you to open up to a wider variety of news sources so you can learn what’s really going on. I realize our president has bragged that he loves the “poorly educated” and we know why. You don’t have to continue to be one of them.
Bonnie Marie
Birch Bay
The Editor:
When I taught elementary school (I am now retired), one of my favorite pieces of advice for my students was this: I suggested they always have with them, as adults, three items: a Leatherman-style tool, a length of rope for securing things, and a copy of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. I provided them with small copies of the latter. My fourth and fifth graders knew about freedom of speech, freedom to assemble and freedom of the press, as well as their future responsibilities as voters.
Donald Trump is unraveling these very rights. His actions are unconstitutional and illegal. It is unfathomable that anyone in this country, regardless of political affiliation, is willing to cede these rights … I don’t think that was the plan encompassed by the word “great.”
My confidence in the checks and balances system, as well as my expectation that elected officials follow the rule of law and defend the Constitution has been strong, until this moment. I have also never been fearful of my own government, but that is changing.
Fear-mongering is a long-known tactic for those who seek to subjugate their citizens. Finally, I had been proud to be an American. I hope to one day continue to be. During a recent day trip to Canada, I spoke with a number of Canadians, all of whom were watching Donald Trump’s actions with disbelief. I consistently heard this phrase, “This is so sad.”
It is one thing to impose tariffs, alienate our allies and withdraw from climate agreements. These are policy decisions.
However, it is quite another to begin to infringe on citizen’s Constitutional rights.
Since Congress is doing nothing except watch, cowed and fearful, as our democracy is dismantled, it is time for citizens to act. Please join one of our Hands Off events on Saturday, April 5 in the region regardless of your political affiliation. It is about your Constitutional rights.
Keitlyn Watson
Blaine
